Where the Clouds Are Far
by tamsinmouse
Summary: James invites Lily to a secret Marauder bonfire. Lily maaay be warming to the idea of him as a real friend.


_Hogwarts, October 1977_

Sirius scorched the air above him with a brilliant jet of fire, breathing it out and up like a Hungarian Horntail.

"Pathetic, Padfoot! Now everyone watch closely," said James, opening twice the amount of Friendly Fires chewy candies that Sirius had taken and stuffing them confidently into his mouth. Marauders could always be counted on for Zonko's contraband.

Lily saw instantly how much James regretted it. His eyes welled with tears behind his glasses and he coughed out nothing less than a fireball, singeing the dewy grass behind Hagrid's empty cottage. Remus face-palmed laughing and Sirius slapped Peter on the back in solidarity, having earlier bet galleons against James to blow a ring of fire. He may not be much of a fire mage, but Potter knew how to keep the group laughing.

She was his tag-along tonight, James assuring her when he asked that it wasn't a date (seriouslyEvansIjustdon'twantEmmelinetofeelweirdastheonlygirlthere), adamant to the point of her telling him to _shut it_. They'd been getting on so well as Head Girl and Head Boy that the mountains of work she'd dreaded first day were almost pleasant to do with Potter, more serious about keeping his schedule (and hers) than she'd ever expected of him. Lily still maintained a wide social distance, insisting on a surface level of friendship that worked well for what they needed, mindful of how far they'd come as mates since fifth year. But James was _really_ fun.

"Merlin, never _UAGHA_ let me _AGHAAAAAHUA_ do that again. I'm not sure I have teeth anymore," said James, through the frequent coughs.

"Filch will be delighted to hear that," said Sirius.

"You cheeky..." James ran for a flying tackle that ended up more like a hug.

He and Sirius bounced off of the stump chairs while Peter threw marshmallows from the bag and narrated their tussle like a Quidditch commentator.

"Potter has the advantage while Black struggles to get out from under his tiny Chaser hands. Really, the smallest hands. _So_ small."

"What the hell does tha- GAH!" Sirius tossed James off of him.

Sirius brushed himself off and pulled up James. They were both grinning like they'd won a game.

"Oh, Prongs. Next time it's _wingardium leviosa_ ," said Sirius.

"If you keep it up his head will be so empty it's going to float on its own," said Remus. "Lily, Emmeline, I apologise for bellends one and two over there."

Sirius faked being offended and turned to the girls.

"I am obviously not included in that, as he was clearly talking about Peter."

Lily took a sip of firewhisky and laughed. Sirius sat down and put his arm around Emmeline.

"No, please, carry on, Potter promised me an entertaining night with you lot around. Thanks to Peter!" said Lily, lifting her cup.

Ignoring her duty to report it to a professor, Lily, Emmeline, and the boys had been lead by Peter Pettigrew through a winding tunnel he'd mapped out himself. She wasn't going to tell, and didn't think other students (or staff) knew the unseen way out of the castle and path to Hagrid's home on the grounds. Hagrid was gone for several days, a conspicuous lack of chimney smoke and presence at Great Hall meals, and it figured that James and crew would be taking advantage of a hidden spot to drink. They weren't seen around the Gryffindor common room after dinner when the weather was decent or opportunity knocked. Lily wished, more than a little, she'd be asked on more adventures in their seventh year. Her friends were fun but she'd never been out of the castle after dark - and she kind of loved it.

"NO!" yelled James. "No, no, no, no!"

He was sitting on the stump still, panicked and staring at Lily. He pulled at his dark mop of hair.

"What's wrong?" she said, as everyone but James reached for their wands.

"We signed up to babysit the first years at the Halloween Feast," said James. He looked over at Remus, asking with his eyes for backup.

"Yeah, you said that meant a lie-in on the 1st so you could rest up for Quidditch. You bribed Anthony from Ravenclaw three galleons to take your morning shift," said Lily.

"It's, um, not a good night to be in charge of children. You know how mental first years get between unlimited sweets and a full moon," he said.

The boys all looked incredibly awkward. Remus chimed in.

"We have a Halloween tradition and he's upset he forgot about it. It would really mean a lot if a prefect could fill in."

"I'm guessing 'Quidditch' meant a lie-in for your hangover," she sighed.

"Please," said James. He looked sincerely worried.

If she and Potter were going to rearrange this, they'd need to talk to a prefect tonight. McGonagall was strict about changes, giving no sympathy to anything less than near-death illness. Their schedule of duties was due the next day.

"If you know how to get back without Peter, we can see if someone is still awake. No promises, but we can _try_ ," said Lily. "And I'm taking this."

She poured several seconds worth of firewhisky into her cup and posed casually.

James started towards the castle, motioning for Lily to quickly follow. She jogged up to him and they walked without wand light in the waning moon, her looking up at the rooms making square yellow patterns on the outside of the castle. She gulped down more of the warming drink.

"It's views like this that make me think I dreamt the whole place up," said Lily. "Like I'm going to wake up in Cokeworth and be a normal girl. 'And you were there, and you, and you, and you...'"

"Who says we're not the normal ones? I've seen Muggle infomercials," said James.

"I can't believe that incredible Wizard of Oz reference was wasted on a _wizard_ ," she said.

"What's his name?" said James.

"What?"

"His name, what's the wizard's name? I might know him. My parents have friends there."

"Outstanding..."

James smiled and stared at her confused, his eyebrows furrowed and head tilted back. Lily laughed hysterically. They approached the patch of bricks that Peter had marked with stones at the bottom of the wall, James using his wand to tap a complicated pattern that loosened them apart to carve out a door. _Lumos_ guided them through the damp tunnel while Lily stumbled here and there, giggling in a rare moment when she was silly and James Potter was stern and focused.

"Can I see the cup?" he said. Firewhisky sloshed close to the rim when she handed it over.

James turned it sideways and dumped its entire contents on the floor of the tunnel behind them.

"That was mine, you tosser!"

"Trust me, Evans, it was for your own good. You weigh 8 stone and drink like Slughorn, the morning won't be kind to you," said James.

"You're just a big... glasses guy, Glasses! You big tall stupid!"

James burst out laughing and mockingly put a hand over his heart.

"Aww, you noticed."

She went from ridiculous drunk anger to full-on laughter, them leaning on their knees to catch their breath from all the tears. James lifted his glasses to wipe his eyes with the back of a finger, getting the last of the chortles out. He shone wand light on his gold wristwatch.

"None of the prefects are going to be up. I think I can catch someone at breakfast before we hand in the schedule," said James.

"What a good friend," smiled Lily.

"A _very_ good friend. I'm not panicking anymore, though. Head up to the dormitories?" he said.

Surprisingly (given Lily's drunk shuffle-stomp that echoed through the halls) they got up to the Gryffindor common room unseen. The fire was small and mostly glowing embers between the black ash, a comforting sight to Lily since her very first night sleeping in the castle. She walked over to the red sofa and flopped down, resting her head on the end cushion and feeling her eyes flutter shut into dizzy, immediate sleep.

* * *

She woke up in the dark.

The fire had burnt out entirely and left her in a there-and-gone panic of how she was going to get back to her room. Lily reached for her wand and exhaled in relief, lighting her space in the common room with a dim amount of light.

He was on the chair beside the sofa, sleeping propped up like a Victorian death photo with his glasses folded and hung on his shirt collar. Shoved halfway in his collar was a ripped piece of parchment that Lily silently stepped forward to see what it said, dehydrated and already feeling the pain of morning.

 ** _Prongs, I talked to Reid (our new sixth-year favourite prefect) and convinced him to take the 31st. Sirius offered photos of Muggle girls and his evening suddenly cleared... Why are you and Lily out here? - Moony_**

She knew what she was doing here, but not why James had stayed. She poked at his shoulder until he was awake. James grabbed his wand and pointed it at her, scrambling with his other hand to put on the folded glasses.

"I could have killed you!" said James.

"I know your eyesight, your spell would have hit the ceiling behind me... _maybe_."

James groaned grumpily and sat up straighter, lifting himself up and making the few steps to the sofa. Lily aimed her wand towards the shadowed fireplace and sat down beside him, illuminated by new light.

"Why did you sleep out here?" she said.

"I was worried you might choke on your sick from the firewhisky. It's happened to Sirius before," said James.

Lily was taken aback by the answer. A thoughtfulness she appreciated.

"That's really kind of you to do, thank you." She smiled sincerely. "You know, you've had my back since the first of the school year, I'm really pleased to be working with you. I mean it."

"I think the quality of your insults last night means we might also be friends? I'm getting 'Big Tall Stupid' engraved on this year's Gryffindor Quidditch plaque," said James.

"Aghhhh." She laughed in embarrassment, but feeling very warm towards Potter at the moment. She vaguely remembered telling him about Cokeworth, and that it didn't feel strange to share.

Being friends might be okay.

"I'm going up to the dormitory, I'll see you at breakfast," she said.

Lily leaned over and pecked James' cheek quick as lightning. She walked upstairs and fell asleep in her real bed, thinking of new friendship.


End file.
